


new year, new us

by SickToDeath



Category: Alice by Heart - Sheik/Sater/Sater & Nelson
Genre: Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Drug Abuse, F/F, F/M, Murder, Suicidal Thoughts, this is really heavy, we are the tigers au
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-17
Updated: 2020-09-02
Packaged: 2021-03-06 04:48:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,345
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25963858
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SickToDeath/pseuds/SickToDeath
Summary: we are the tigers but make it alice by heart characters!clarissa - rileydodgy - cairojane (original character) - katenigel - mattiealice - annleighalfred - clarkfarrah - haroldtabby - chesstriggers will be put at the beginning of each chapter
Relationships: Alfred Hallam/Alice Spencer, Tabatha Dedwin/ Original Female Character
Comments: 2
Kudos: 4





	1. WORST TEAM EVER

“dodgy, turn it off! this isn’t funny!” clarissa yelled, diving her face into the couch to shield herself from the gory screen. “we don’t need to watch this absurdity at night! it’s almost dark out, you asshole!”

“oh c’mon. it’s not like it’s real.” dodgy rolled his eyes, but he smirked as an idea popped into his head. “but fine, i’ll turn it off. we should see how many views that video from last year has now!”

clarissa groaned, smacking her friend with a pillow. “you pull up that video and i’ll kill you in cold blood, you whore!” despite her words, dodgy continued to pull out his phone, draping himself across her lap. 

“hmm, now it has three million, six hundred and-“

“enough, dodgy!” clarissa yelled, but she quickly calmed herself and continued in a lighter tone. “this year will be better. this is our year, i can feel it! can’t you?” she took his hands, squeezing them tightly. “that’s why i need you. this has to be perfect, dodger. no screw ups this year. this is our last year in high school and i want gold medals for this team, not participation trophies.”

“what does that have to do with you needing me?” 

“you’re meaner. you’ll help me buckle down on them. right?”

“sure, rissa. whatever you need.”

“thank you,” she kissed his cheek and stood up. “now, let me grab the schedule for tonight.”

—

tabatha climbed out of the car and slung jane’s bag over her shoulder, smirking. she leaned down, resting her hands on the now empty driver’s seat. “i’ve got your shit. you can’t escape this now.”

jane groaned, crossing her arms over her chest. “c’mon, can’t we just go back to your place? we can go volunteer at your dad’s funeral business or something, it would be just as fun. or better yet, we can go to my house and play some video games? i can name at least 20 of them that would be tons more fun than some stupid cheerleader sleepover.”

“no! it’s not that bad, i promise. i’m staying, and you’re not leaving me here.” 

“whatever.” jane rolled her eyes and opened the passenger door, stepping out of the car. “i’m quitting the team the second you graduate.” 

“oh, i don’t know, janey,” tabby teased, walking over to her and wrapping an arm around her shoulders, “i think you’re secretly dying to be a tiger and just trying to seem cool.”

“i am not!”

“then how come you agreed to join?”

“because this is your last year here, and then you’re off to college or whatever.” jane waved her hand in the air, making an undefined gesture. “i want to spend as much time with you as i can.”

“you can still do things on your own, you know. we still see each other everyday. you have your own life.” she pulled her arm away from jane, sighing. “look, we’ll talk about it later. let’s just go in.” she looked down at her phone, checking the instructions. tabby dragged her into the front hall, waiting for dodgy or clarissa to meet them there. 

—

alice dialed harold’s number for the fifth time, growing aggravated with the constant ringing. she let out a sigh of relief when she heard a small pause in the ringing, only to tense back up when the voicemail tone started. of course. 

“harold! where the hell are you? i’ve been calling you all night! we need to leave now, and if i don’t hear back from you, i’ll absolutely go without you.” she pressed end to the call and finished buttoning her dress. she was almost finished getting ready, but was startled by a quiet knock at the door. 

“alice? can i come in?” alfred’s voice came from behind the door, quiet as always. 

“not yet, let me just,” alice trailed off as she finished up the last button and slid on her jacket. “alright, hi! come in!” he opened the door, grinning up at his girlfriend. 

“allie, you look so nice! how are you so pretty?” alfred wrapped his arms around her, kissing her cheek. he picked her up and spun her around. 

“alfie!” she squealed, grabbing into him tightly. “don’t do that!!” she batted at his shoulder as he set her down. they leaned in for a kiss, but were interrupted by alice’s phone ringing. she groaned and answered, her facial expression dropping. 

“harold! thank fucking god, where the hell are you? you haven’t answered my calls all night!” 

“oh, right. sorry, i just got a little caught up,” he slurred, and from the background of his audio, there was blaring music and lots of voices overlapping. he was at another goddamn party, wasn’t he?”

“it’s whatever. just-“ alice sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose, “where are you?”

“i’m not really sure-“

“harold!! why on earth would you-“

“i’m gonna drop you a pin. uhh, how do you drop a pin again?”

“dear god.”

—

nigel closed his mom’s car door, a bright smile on his face. it was his freshman year and he had made it onto the cheer squad. he was thrilled for the upcoming year, hoping to meet some new friends as well. maybe this wasn’t the best ranking team, but that didn’t matter all that much to him. he was just there to have fun. 

he walked up to the door, knocking three solid times. while he waited, he gripped his backpack straps and rocked on his feet. the door opened and he was greeted by a tall girl with mini space buns. 

“oh, finally! jane, look! we have someone to replace harold!” she yelled back to jane, wrapping an arm around nigel. “hey! i’m tabby, that’s jane. she’s grumpy, don’t mind her.” tabatha rushed him in, fixing up his hair as he walked in. 

“harold’s still on the team,” jane responded. “alice just texted the group chat saying that they were running late. he’s in another county.” 

“dammit! we were so close!” tabby sat back down, gently fixing up nigel’s appearance. maybe she wasn’t thrilled at the moment, but her motherly instinct took over almost immediately.

—

clarissa picked up the last item off the basement floor and looked across the room. it had to be perfect. this year would be different, she kept yelling herself. “alright. schedule, check. cleaning, check. snacks, check. combo, check. alright! we have everything, right?”

“we have more than everything, clarissa. now, maybe you should stop freaking out and let everyone know that you can actually be fun.” dodgy handed her the clipboard again, hitting her in the head with it. 

“hey! i can be fun!”

“micromanaging every minute of this sleepover isn’t fun. be spontaneous! live life on the edge!”

“i’m sorry. this just has to be perfect. it’ll be perfect, right?”

“sure, rissa. i mean, what could go wrong?”

—

jane and tabby had started up a conversation with nigel, bickering between themselves as well. they were interrupted by dodgy walking into the entrance hall, resting an arm on the door frame. 

“alright, whores. party’s downstairs. if you get lost, figure it out.” he pushed everyone out of the room, but stopped when he got to tabby. “what the hell are you doing here?”

“i made the team, dodger. will you leave me alone?”

dodgy raised eyebrow and grabbed her by the shirt. “you screw this year up again and you’re dead. got it?” before she could respond, he let go of her shirt and pushed her out of the room with the others. 

the four made their way downstairs, each taking a seat. dodgy sat on the stairs, jane and tabatha sat next to each other on an ottoman, and nigel sat on the edge of the coach, a bright smile on his face. clarissa moved to stand in front of the team, her grin equally as big as nigel’s. 

“alright, we’ll see alice and harold as soon as they get here, but in the meantime, welcome team! as you all know, the team has had a sleepover every year for the past 32 years, and i am so happy to share this tradition with all of you tonight. thank you all for trying out, and i look forward to a bright year ahead of us! go tigers!”


	2. DON’T EVEN

clarissa looked up from her clipboard when she finished listing off the schedule and checked the time. “any updates on alice and harold?”

“they should be here any minute,” tabatha responded. “they were at the gate the last i checked.”

“alright, great! while we wait, this should be a good time to discuss this year’s lateness policy!” she smiled at the group before continuing, “the lateness policy is that there is no lateness policy, because none of you should be late!”

“okay,” jane cut in, “but wouldn’t it just be easier to have a lateness policy? i mean, look at alice and harold. they’re already late!”

clarissa sighed and pinched her nose. “well, that won’t be happening again, jane. therefore, there’s no need for a lateness policy.”

“but-“ she was cut off by alice and harold walking it, making as much noise as they could. 

“get the hell off of me!”

“i wouldn’t even be touching you if you could walk properly!” alice yelled, gently pushing harold so that was sitting on couch. 

“you guys are late,” clarissa chided. 

before the other girl could respond, harold smirked and yelled out, “not our fault your brother drives like a little bitch!”

alice smacked the back of harold’s head, scolding him, “alfred doesn’t drive like a little bitch! he’s just careful!“

“hey, hey. let’s not call anyone names. that’s just a whole bunch of negativity, and we don’t need that here! right, team?” 

despite clarissa’s words, the team ignored her and continued on with dramatics of the entrance. 

tabatha furrowed her eyebrows in. “is he drunk? again?” alice only replied with a nod. dear god, how was this sleepover already a mess?

“alice, what the fuck?! take him home!” dodgy yelled, “he’s all sorts of fucked up, how are we supposed to do anything?”

harold pulled out a water bottle from his bag and took a long sip of it. “i’m fine, guys. you’re all just dramatic.” he stood up and slowly turned around. “see? i’m fine!” he fell back into the couch, taking a second drink from his bottle. 

alice glared at her stepbrother and sat down next to tabatha. “please tell me that’s water.“

“it is, it is! calm down, jeez!” 

clarissa slammed her clipboard on the coffee table, looking to already be at her wits end with the team. “guys! this isn’t some party, we’re here to work! not fight!” she took a deep breath and continued on, trying to regain her composure. “now, let’s start the night! i would like to introduce the newest addition to our team, nigel johnson! he’s a freshman, and i’m thrilled to introduce him to you guys.” she crouched down to nigel, ruffling his hair. “this is going to be the best four years of your life, kid. just you wait.” 

— 

jane kicked at tabatha’s foot out of boredom as clarissa continued her rant about her expectations for the year, the new rules, and the whole rundown. she made it very clear that she didn’t want to be there. the only source of sanity in the setting was gently holding her girlfriend’s hand behind their bags. she truly wasn’t ready for them to be going their separate ways at the end of the year. how could she make a year last forever?

she rolled her eyes at the captain’s cheery voice, just waiting for the whole explanation to be over so she could just watch a movie on her phone or go to sleep. anything to make this hell seem any shorter than it was. it was only 6pm, and they couldn’t go home till 10am. she was pretty sure this was worse than prison. or hell. 

as she waited, she felt tabby’s hand squeeze hers. it cause jane to smile a little bit and squeeze back. maybe as long as tabby stuck around, this night wouldn’t be nearly as bad. 

—

clarissa finished passing out packets of information and grabbed a pom-pom. “alright, girls! this is the speaking pom-pom. we’re going to pass it around, and when you have it, tell us about yourself! i’m so looking forward to learning more about you.” 

when she didn’t see any enthusiasm from the crowd, she tried not to let it discourage her. “i’ll go first! i’m clarissa, i’m a junior, and i’m your team captain this year! i’m thrilled to be leading this team and only hope that i can be what we need to get us a gold medal this year! fingers crossed! alright, tabby, you can go next!” she tossed the pom-pom to the senior. 

tabatha caught it and stood up. “hey! i’m tabby, and i’m a senior this year. this is my third year on the team, and-“

nigel cut her off, practically bouncing up and down. “my family followed you all the way to the olympics, oh my god!!! it was so cool-“ he cut himself off, chuckling softly to himself. “i’m sorry that you couldn’t make it, by the way. um, that injury looked pretty nasty.”

“it’s fine, kiddo. i’m over it by now.” she sat back down and tossed the pom-pom to jane. “you go.”

“uh, i’m jane. i’m a junior. that’s it.” 

—

once tabatha sat back down, she wiped her hands on her leggings. her hands were sweaty from nervousness. she stared down at the ground as her fears for this year became a reality. all anyone knew her has was the girl who was too fucked up to make it to the olympics. america’s failure. she had the entire country rooting for her, yet she couldn’t even keep that on track. she was happy to be back with the team, sure, but the stress of it was killing her. not to mention the events of last year. 

the senior glanced over at jane, smiling to herself. she was what made this bearable. just one more year and then she could be off to college, hopefully forgetting the stresses of the tigers. with the perfectionist captain, things were bound to be stressful. she just hoped she would survive the last year. 

-

alice took the pom-pom, smiling at the group as she stood up. “hey! i’m alice, and i’m a junior. this is my third year on the tigers!” she turned to nigel, ruffling up his hair, “i joined as a freshman too. it’s not as bad as it seems, i swear.” she passed the pom-pom to harold. 

“i’m harold. i joined as a freshman too, it’s not like an elite club. but yeah, if you’re new, you’re in for a real treat.” he grabbed his water bottle and took a long sip from it. he threw the orange and black pom-pom to dodgy, who almost missed it. 

“watch your aim, whore.” he snapped before pulling it to his chest. “i’m dodgy. last years prom prince, and planning on being this years prom king. i’m kind of the co-captain of the team.”

“now, that’s not what i said-“

“whatever.”

“hold on, is co-captain a thing now?!” alice asked, an exasperated look on her face. “how come the rest of the te-“

“it’s not a thing, alice.”

“but how come dodgy just-“

“cuz clarissa likes me better.”

“that’s not-“

“quit it, you two!” clarissa interrupted, already feeling like she was in charge of a group of children. “there is no co-captain! now stop arguing, or else i’ll have to kill you both!” she ended the sentence of a teasing note, gently pushing at dodgy’s shoulder. at least it caused a small bout of laughter from the group. 

dodgy stepped onto the table, grabbing the clipboard. “alright, bitches. next up is truth or dare!”

“i did not write down-“

“you didn’t have to. i did. we want to have fun, rissa.”

“is this not f-?”

jane cut clarissa off, “can’t we just watch tv or something?”

“oh, no. actually, that reminds me. no electronics allowed! give me your phones.” clarissa walked around, grabbing everyone’s phones. alice slipped hers inside her boot and claimed to have left it at home. she wasn’t going through this whole sleepover without talking to alfred. 

“alright. now, alice, truth or dare.”

“um, truth?”

“are you a virgin?”

“oh! yeah!”

tabatha’s jaw dropped and her eyes went wide. “still?! you two have been dating for like, three years!”

“and he’s totally bangable too!” dodgy cut in, a smirk spreading across his face. “who knew you two were such prudes? damn!”

“he wants to wait! what’s so wrong with that?”

“what’s wrong with that is that everyone can see the dick print! how have you two not fucked yet?”

alice groaned, “just get on with the game, jesus christ!”

“alright. nigel, truth or dare,” the aristocrat like boy turned to the freshman who was fidgeting in his seat. nigel wanted to say truth, just to play it safe, but as he felt the team’s eyes on him, he didn’t want to seem lame or not fun. 

before he could think about it any more, he blurted out, “dare!” 

this caused another mischievous smirk from dodgy and he walked over to harold, grabbing his water bottle. 

“hey, that’s mine!”

“sharing is caring, bitch!” he unscrewed the lid, handing it to nigel. “drink up.”

clarissa furrowed her eyebrows in. “that IS water, right?” her question was ignored, though, as dodgy forced the younger boy to chug the whole bottle. once nigel had finished, he gave the bottle back and started coughing. whatever was in there tasted disgusting, and why was he suddenly feeling weird? huh. 

“now, that’s what i call a party!” dodgy yelled, throwing the empty bottle back to harold. 

“alright, that’s enough!” clarissa put her hands up to regain control of the group. “we came here to work, not party. now, let’s start learning the cheer, shall we?”

harold stood up, glaring over at tabby. “sure, that’s fine, but you guys know i’m not doing shit if she’s on the base, right?”

the captain sighed and glanced between harold and tabatha. “it’s a new year. i think we all owe each other a fresh start.”

“i don’t owe her shit! i broke my ankle because of her! she dropped me!”

“you sprained it. that’s not the same!”

“it was an accident, harold. i just tripped,” tabby cut in. 

“oh, please! you were fucking stoned!”

jane stood up as well, getting in front of her girlfriend. “shut up!”

“tabby said she tripped, let’s just forget about it!”

“why should we?! the entire country knows she can’t even pass a drug test! of course she was stoned during that game!”

“oh, don’t act all innocent, harold. you can’t even cough in the direction of a breathalyzer,” dodgy added in. 

“well, at least i’ve never been drunk at a game!”

“i can literally name five games you were drunk at. and that’s just off the top of my head.”

“whatever. having a beer or two before a game isn’t a fucking crime.”

jane let out an exasperated laugh, taking a couple steps forward. “it’s literally a crime!”

“she almost killed me!”

“oh, please. don’t start attacking her because you can’t get your shit together!”

“jane, harold! you two-“

“oh, what, is tabatha any better? i mean, look at her! shes stoned! you can see that, right? shes fucking stoned, jane.”

jane, feeling so overwhelmed with pure anger, walked right up to harold and punched him in the jaw. the two started up a physical fight because clarissa pulled her off of harold. 

“jane! what the hell?! go take a walk!” she pushed her towards the door. “go! cool down! jesus christ.”

tabatha started at the scene, rubbing her temples with her hand. she grabbed her bag and stood up. “i’ll go talk to her.” she hurried up the basement stairs, following jane outside.


End file.
